


Improbable Cause and Effect

by vocal_fries



Series: Subtext Becomes Text [19]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Bottom Elim Garak, DS9 S3E20 "Improbable Cause, M/M, Multi, Oral Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Service Top
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:54:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22751329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vocal_fries/pseuds/vocal_fries
Summary: Garak accepts a new normal just in time for it all to blow up. Smutty, angsty, behind the scenes of DS9 S3E20 "Improbable Cause," which is in itself almost a perfect episode.
Relationships: Julian Bashir/Elim Garak, Julian Bashir/Elim Garak/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Subtext Becomes Text [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/965958
Comments: 9
Kudos: 45





	Improbable Cause and Effect

**Author's Note:**

> In deference to the fact that "Improbable Cause" is the cliffhanger first half of a two-part episode, I'm only posting this now that I've also completed my companion piece to "The Die is Cast" (part two). That'll be up in a day or so, after I finish some minor editing.
> 
> Note: In canon, these episodes are BASICALLY PERFECT. Like. Fucking perfect. It made it really difficult to figure out what to write alongside them, honestly. I've tried really hard to maintain everything I love about these episodes while incorporating them into this companion series. As such, I wanted to stay "behind the scenes" and avoid much rehashing of canon, but Delavian chocolates, the Garak-Odo sniping, and the "action" in the final vignette are straight from the episode. So! Credit where credit is due to the writers of DS9 S3E20, because they did fucking great.

Elim Garak stood back to admire his handiwork and run through his mental checklist. He’d had to work fast, and he wanted to safeguard against any possible issues. The nitrilin microexplosive was carefully hidden in the power conduit in the wall of his shop. The pheromonic sensor was set to activate in three hours. The neutrino inverter, his first project that morning, was securely aboard the Flaxian’s ship. Satisfied, he opened his shop for the day.

Garak surveyed the space. He’d spent so many hours here over the years. He smirked to himself. He wouldn’t be upset to see it in flames. A remodel had been overdue for a while now, anyway.

He checked his messages. He responded to three appointment requests, then opened a personal message from Julian.

_ Lunch? I need to hear your terrible analysis of Julius Caesar. -J _

Garak smiled. Julian had made him watch a performance of  _ Julius Caesar _ two years prior, but he’d only recently convinced Garak to read it.

_ I look forward to your feeble rebuttal. 12:00. _

Garak fussed in the shop for an hour or so. A newly assigned Starfleet ensign came in to inquire about a dress in the window display, but she seemed anxious to leave after seeing Garak.

His comm unit chirped. New message from Rennan.

_ Are you and Julian having lunch? I’m starting work later than expected. _

Garak sent an unencrypted response.

_ Yes, we are. Next time! _

He sent an encrypted response immediately after.

_ Come to the shop. I can fit you in right now. _

A couple minutes passed, and Garak smiled to himself. Rennan only answered this sort of invitation to say no. Garak felt himself growing wet with anticipation.

The first time had been entirely spontaneous. Rennan had stopped by the shop after he got off an early shift, and they’d chatted and quietly flirted between customers. After the shop cleared, the flirting escalated. Garak had shown Rennan to a fitting room, then demanded to be fucked. Flushed with excitement, Rennan had complied. Garak had had sex in his shop before, but never while it was open for business. His orgasm has been mind-blowing.

Their semi-public trysts had become increasingly frequent — a couple times a week, lately. They’d begun speculating about other places on the station they might get away with fucking. It was silly, but it was fun, and it seemed to have distracted Rennan from his hurt feelings over Garak’s psionic self-protection.

When Rennan stepped into the shop a few minutes later, it was still otherwise empty.

Rennan grinned warmly. “You wanted to see me?” he asked playfully.

“Ah,” Garak said. “Yes. There’s something in the back I’d like to see you in.”

They walked to his workroom in the back of the shop. Rennan started to close the door behind them, but Garak stopped him.

He grinned wickedly at the Betazoid, who flushed. “Really?” Rennan asked.

“Mm,” Garak confirmed. “Door open. Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye out.” He gestured to the security monitors on the wall above the work table. “But,” he purred, stepping close to Rennan and stroking his collarbone, “you’d be wise to make sure we both come before someone walks in looking for a dress.”

Rennan nodded obediently. “I will."

Garak smiled. “Good. Strip.”

Rennan’s eyes widened, but he did as he was told. When his thick erection was freed from his leggings, Garak felt his prUt stir.

Garak turned, leaning on his elbows on the table. His eyes wandered the screens, considering his shop from half a dozen angles. It would be a while before they fucked here again. Perhaps he’d remodel with an eye to such encounters.

Rennan’s hands grazed over Garak’s low back, hips, and ass, and Garak sighed, parting his thighs a few centimeters more. A hand went between his legs, caressing him, and Garak inhaled deeply. The way Rennan touched him was so blissfully good.

The younger man reached in front of Garak to unfasten his pants. He pulled his trousers and undergarments down, then slid his hand between Garak’s legs again. Garak gasped lightly as strong fingers fondled him. He could hear Rennan breathing raggedly behind him.

A hard cock sank into him. Garak hissed. “Fuck me,” he whispered.

Rennan’s hands gripped him tightly by the hips. He withdrew slowly, then snapped his hips. Withdrew, snapped.

Garak gritted his teeth, hissing with every hard thrust. Rennan hadn’t pushed him to evert, and the pressure against his prUt was driving him wild. Garak wondered idly if Rennan had realized eversion tended to delay orgasm during penetrative sex.

Rennan’s arm snaked in front of him, and he pressed one finger into his soaked ajan. Garak’s breath hitched, and he grinned. Rennan did know. He was pressing the ligament that prevents eversion.

“Well, look at you,” Garak chuckled.

“I’m a quick study,” Rennan panted, then thrust into Garak even harder.

The force of Rennan’s movements turned Garak’s chuckle into a full-voiced laugh for a brief moment. Surprised, Garak bit his lip, suppressing his need to cry out.

Teeth pinched Garak’s favorite neck scale, and this time, he bit his own arm to stop the wail of pleasure threatening to escape. Rennan slammed into him, biting harder.

It was too much. Garak came with a strangled cry that he buried in the sleeve of his tunic. As his vision cleared, his eyes focused on one of the security screens. Someone was studying his window display.

“Someone’s walking into the shop,” he whispered. “Hurry up.”

Rennan made a strangled sound, biting down hard on Garak’s neck ridge. Rennan’s body went rigid, and Garak felt heat pulsing inside him. He smiled.

The Betazoid slipped out of him and knelt. Garak leaned further forward as Rennan spread his thighs, hurriedly licking him clean. When Garak stood straight and turned around, Rennan was standing too, licking Garak’s blue semen off his fingers.

“I love fucking you when you haven’t everted,” Rennan said dreamily, his black eyes hazy. “Your prUt feels  _ so fucking good _ rubbing against my cock. Fuck.”

“I quite like it myself.” Garak smiled at him fondly. He wiped pink cum off Rennan’s chin with his thumb and watched the young man slowly suck it clean. “You’re a fucking mess,” he teased, buckling his pants.

“And loving it,” Rennan confirmed, putting his clothes back on, staying carefully out of sight of the open door.

Garak grinned, then pasted on a customer service smile as he walked into the shop. “Good morning!” he crowed.

As Rennan was leaving several minutes later, he stopped to say goodbye to Garak. The customer was muttering to herself while she tried on a belt in front of a mirror.

“Let’s get walked in on again sometime,” Rennan whispered. “That blew my mind.”

Garak smiled sedately. “It can be arranged.”

________________

Garak answered the door quickly. He looked surprised, but he stepped aside to let Julian enter his quarters.

“I wasn’t expecting you, my dear. Did I forget a date?”

“No,” Julian said somewhat sheepishly. “I’ve been worried about you since the explosion. I wanted to see you.”

Garak nodded, then glanced down at himself appraisingly. “I feel quite well. No previously unnoticed shrapnel, no ringing in my ears.”

Bashir smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.” He hesitated. “Can I stay for a drink?”

“Of course!” Garak gestured at his sofa. “Forgive my rudeness. Bit of a long day. Can I get you a drink? I have a cup of red leaf tea I was going to refresh.”

“Tea sounds good,” Julian said, sitting.

Garak set a cup of double-sweet Tarkalean tea in front of Julian and retrieved his own nearly empty teacup. When he’d refilled his drink, he joined Julian on the sofa.

Julian studied him. Garak looked slightly preoccupied. He supposed he would be, too, if someone had bombed his business.

“Will you be able to rebuild?” Julian asked, sipping his tea.

Garak shrugged. “With all new furniture and equipment, yes. Almost nothing was salvageable.” He raised a brow ridge. “I’m sorry about your pants.”

Julian smiled. “You hate those pants. You probably bombed the shop yourself just to have an excuse not to return them to me.”

Garak chuckled, eyes sparkling. “I’ll make you some nicer pants. They weren’t doing you any favors.”

“Do they know who’s responsible?”

“The explosive was triggered by a sensor of Flaxian design. Odo is following a lead to that effect as we speak.” Garak set down his tea. “I suppose we’ll know soon.”

“Why would he want to hurt you?” Julian asked. Anxiety tugged at him, formless but persistent. He knew so little about Garak’s past.

Garak shrugged again. “Odo thinks he’s an assassin, so I doubt the Flaxian’s interest in me is personal. Not for him, at least.”

Julian wrinkled his brow. “Odo’s not worried he’ll try again tonight?”

“We swept the room for explosives, and the pheromonic sensor the Flaxian used wasn’t damaged in the explosion, so Odo and I used it to make an alarm for the corridor outside my quarters. If a Flaxian enters the corridor, Odo and I will both know immediately.”

Julian relaxed a little. He sipped his tea, mulling it all over. Satisfied for the moment, he glanced at Garak slyly. “So. These ‘Delavian chocolates.’ Fess up.”

Garak laughed.  _ Delavian chocolates _ were an inside joke. After the removal of Garak’s device, Julian had carefully avoided Rennan for a few weeks, worried Rennan would sense his fear of Garak. Rennan had been suspicious in part because he had seen Julian buying Delavian chocolates from a Bajoran trader on more than one occasion. After Julian’s sheepish admission, Rennan and Julian had begun referring to avoidant, dubious, or otherwise secretive behavior as buying or eating Delavian chocolates.

It was just like Garak to roll his eyes at them for a year before casually incorporating the phrase into his own verbiage. Julian smiled, waiting.

“Rennan and I have been fucking at the shop a lot,” Garak said with a smirk. “When I get bored.”

Julian huffed a laugh. “You’re always bored! You’ll wear him out.”

Garak chuckled. “He’s perfectly happy to participate. I’ve been slowly increasing the sense of risk, and it’s been a lot of fun. I used to close up, but now I leave the shop open.” Garak’s eyes glinted mischievously. “Today, he fucked me in the workroom, and I didn’t let him close the door.”

Julian’s eyes widened, and he felt himself flush with arousal. “Really? If someone walked into the shop at the right angle, they might have caught you.”

Garak shrugged, grinning. “Someone  _ did _ walk in. They didn’t see us, but Rennan came instantly.” He chuckled, and Julian’s eyes went even wider. “It was wonderful.”

Julian laughed, shaking his head. “You’ve got  _ the most _ dogged bottom I’ve ever met fucking you any time you snap your fingers. Is that not enough fun without — all of that?”

Garak raised a brow ridge, smiling archly. “Oh, it’s a great deal of fun. But this is, too.”

“You two.” Julian shook his head, smiling. “Sometimes I think about how it wasn’t so long ago that I wasn’t sure you’d even get along, much less become friends.”

Garak grinned. “And now?”

Julian rolled his eyes dramatically. “Now  _ he’s _ convinced  _ you _ to play telepath with him, and  _ you’ve _ trained  _ him _ to be your personal service top.” He laughed. “I actually don’t know which is more astounding.”

Garak smiled flirtatiously. “Which is more enticing?”

Julian grinned back, shifting closer on the sofa. He kissed Garak, who surged forward to meet him.

Their clothes seemed to melt away. Julian certainly didn’t remember undressing, anyway. They stumbled into the bedroom, kissing and pawing at one another.

Julian tripped, falling backward onto the bed with a peal of laughter. Garak stood over him, his blue eyes brilliant with desire and mirth.

“Come here,” Julian murmured. “I want to taste you.”

Garak gave a fraction of a nod, then crawled onto the bed, his hands and knees on either side of Julian’s body. He moved slowly, giving Julian’s hands the opportunity to explore him. The human caressed familiar ridges and curves, kissing soft flesh and nipping tough scales. A hand found Garak’s ajan, and Julian pressed his fingers inside, relishing the hot, wet desire he felt there. Garak sighed above him. His own cock throbbed painfully. When Garak finally knelt over his face, bracing himself against the headboard, Julian was beside himself with need.

Julian grasped Garak’s thighs and pulled steadily until his lips brushed Garak’s ajan. The finely microscaled flesh was engorged, gleaming wet. Julian sucked the delicate flesh, pulling it very gently. Each gasp he heard ran electric through his body, and he began to shiver uncontrollably.

Julian felt Garak tremble as he fought to delay eversion. Julian caressed Garak’s hips and thighs, relishing the tension in the muscles beneath his fingers. Garak began to move against his mouth, a subtle roll of his hips that hinted at his impatience as much as his enjoyment. Licking deeply into Garak, Julian moaned softly, losing himself completely in the task.

When Garak finally everted with a long exhale of relief, Julian whimpered loudly, still suckling at the thickly swollen flesh of Garak’s ajan.

He heard a low, breathy chuckle above him.

“You sound a bit beleaguered,” Garak teased, rising to his knees and looking down at Julian. “Do you need something, my dear?”

Julian just whined, staring desperately up at Garak. His need was ineffable.

The Cardassian leaned down, whispering next to his ear. “Do you want me to fuck you, my dear?”

“Yes!” Julian gasped, shuddering violently. His voice sounded strange even to his own ears, but he didn’t care. “Garak, please.”

Julian was dimly aware of Garak swinging his leg to kneel next to him. “Get ready then, darling.”

The command sent a fresh wave of gooseflesh over Julian’s body. Rolling onto one side, he grasped Garak’s prUt and stroked it a few times. Garak sighed quietly, watching. Julian pressed his fingers inside Garak, coating them. Meeting Garak’s eyes, Julian reached behind himself and began to impatiently work his fingers into his body.

“You’re a stunning sight, my dear,” Garak remarked, watching him closely. “So utterly wanton.”

Julian began to fuck himself, mouth slightly open as he grunted softly. He stared up at Garak, turned on beyond belief by putting himself on display like this.

Blue eyes flashed at him, hot and predatory. “Listen to that,” Garak murmured quietly. “Flesh and need, all muddled together. Beautiful.”

Julian’s entire body felt hot under Garak’s gaze. He wanted Garak to fuck him, but he was enjoying earning it. He loved the feeling of Garak watching him fuck himself, and he played it up to greatest effect. Julian rolled onto his stomach, raising his hips up in the air as he fingered himself roughly. He craned his head, rolling his eyes to look at Garak.

Garak was breathing raggedly, watching Julian contort his body. “Beautiful boy,” he said softly.

Julian began to cry out, fucking himself hard with his fingers. He pressed his hips up and back, meeting every thrust. He wailed when he felt cool hands grab his wrists, pinning them on either side of his head. Finally,  _ finally, _ Julian felt Garak nudge his thighs apart and kneel between them. Julian whined wordlessly, spreading his legs further and tilting his hips invitingly. As Garak leaned against him, he felt the man’s slick prUt press into him. Julian howled, incoherent.

Garak paused for a long moment when his prUt was fully inside Julian, breathing loudly. Julian hated the waiting, but he felt very full, and the completeness of it pricked his eyes with tears.

“Nothing feels as good as being inside you, Julian,” Garak whispered.

The soft words sank deep into Julian, and he felt blissful, warm, overwhelmed. He began to cry. He rocked his hips and squirmed beneath Garak, trying to find relief from the formless pressure threatening to destroy him.

Finally, Garak began to move inside Julian. From the first stroke, Julian was lost. He cried out with every thrust, his voice growing louder as tears flowed from his eyes.

When he came, Julian blacked out momentarily. He awoke to Garak holding him tightly, kissing the back of his shoulder and neck. The room spun around them. Julian could feel Garak’s pale blue semen dripping out of him, and he sighed with deep contentment.

“You’re perfect,” Julian giggled, inexplicably giddy.

“You’re intoxicated.”

“On you.” Julian rolled to face Garak, twining his limbs around him. He pressed their foreheads together. “I love you.”

After a long moment, Garak kissed Julian’s forehead. “My dear.”

_______________

The journey on the runabout seemed to take ages. Although verbally sparring with Odo was a great source of amusement, Garak couldn’t stop thinking about Mila. It had been so bittersweet speaking to her. Her face, older now, haunted him. Beautiful, kind eyes that had always loved him when no one else did. Warm loyalty that had never betrayed him or Tain. Like Tain, Mila had never let Garak name their relationship, but unlike his father, his mother had never denied him when it mattered.

She believed in him. Even now, she believed he could help save Tain. Her confidence in him was emboldening. It always had been.

Garak found it difficult to focus as he argued with Odo. It was growing tiresome, to argue so much with someone who was so utterly indifferent to the deliciously erotic nature of argument.

“Tell me,” Garak sneered, “is there one person in this universe you do care for? One person who's more than just an interesting puzzle to be solved. Is there, Odo? Anyone?”

Odo looked at him reproachfully. “If there were, I certainly wouldn't tell you.”

Garak smirked. Such natural ability was wasted on Odo. “And that would be a wise decision.”

Garak retreated to the rear of the runabout. If arguing was only going to lead to frustration, he may as well take a break. He ordered a meal — another pleasure for which Odo had no appreciation — and sat down to eat. To think, alone.

It was exhilarating being so far from the station, unaccompanied by Starfleet. It was only possible — it was only conceivable — because Tain was in danger. The man who’d stranded Garak on Deep Space 9 was now the man who had freed him from it.

For a time, anyway. Garak tried not to have expectations about what might happen after the rescue mission. He didn’t know if reconciliation was possible, but he’d always hoped for it. Even in his darkest hours in exile, he’d believed that there might exist a contingency in which Tain gave him another chance. In which Tain realized Garak had never betrayed him — could never betray him.

The fear that he was missing the opportunities that led to his redemption had long haunted him. The fear was all-consuming, lurking in the shadows of his every decision.

Nearly every decision. Garak thought about Julian, and his heart ached. He was in love. He’d fought it for two years, to no avail. He heard Julian’s cries of pleasure from the night before. The soft, helpless giggles after his orgasm. The bewitching tone of his voice when he told Garak he loved him. Garak’s hands trembled, and he set down his tea abruptly. He steeled himself against an immense wave of pain, but he gasped when it broke over him.

Because now, as Julius Caesar might say, the die was cast. If he succeeded in saving Tain, he might never return to the station. In the event that he did return, he would have no affordances for secret affairs. Icy fingers gripped his chest, squeezing the breath from his lungs.

Garak should his head, sipping his tea. This is what he’d wanted for years now. To serve Cardassia again. To  _ feel Cardassian _ again. Not in contrast, but in community.

As he thought of Cardassia, the pain in his chest subsided just a bit. He saw Lakarian City at daybreak. He heard his boots scuff through leaf litter in the streets. He breathed the warm air, imagined not feeling cold for months on end.

He’d promised Mila he would help Tain, and he would. But it wasn’t even  _ for _ Tain. It was for Mila, and it was for Cardassia.

If Tain  _ was _ Cardassia, well, that couldn’t be helped.

When Garak returned to the helm, the runabout was approaching the Unefra system. The moment they dropped out of warp, a Romulan warbird decloaked, and a pair of Romulans beamed aboard.

On the warbird, Garak was amazed at how quickly the old, familiar rhythm returned to him. He fell seamlessly into the banter he and Tain had abandoned years ago. The comforting familiarity of it was surreal. He seemed to watch them from outside his body, from elsewhere in the room.

So when Tain offered Garak a way back in, he couldn’t tell what was relief and what was agony. Old wounds reopened spontaneously, every nerve exposed. He felt blind with love and fear and excruciating hope.

Julian flashed before his eyes. Garak blinked him away. Mila hovered in his mind, and he blinked her away, too.

He took Tain’s hand. None of it mattered. He was back.


End file.
